Charles Lee

This veteran comedy writer worked with comedian Bob Hope for 32 years. Lee's association with Hope began in the mid-1940s and continued through the mid-70s. Lee specialized in comic monologues and wor...
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Actor Chris Pratt is in talks to join Denzel Washington in the long-awaited remake of The Magnificent Seven. The Guardians of the Galaxy star is in the early stages of negotiations with studio executives at MGM to appear in the Antoine Fuqua action film, a revamped version of John Sturges' 1960 original, which featured Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and Yul Brynner among a group of elite gunmen tasked with protecting a small Mexican village from an invasion of bandits, according to Deadline.com.
Washington was tapped to re-team with his Training Day director Fuqua over the summer (14).
The Magnificent Seven film has been on MGM's slate for some time, with Tom Cruise previously set to appear alongside Matt Damon in 2012.
An early draft for the reboot was penned by True Detective writer Nic Pizzolatto and has since been reworked by The Blind Side screenwriter John Lee Hancock.

Lady Antebellum dedicated a performance of Luke Bryan's Drink A Beer to the singer on Tuesday (02Dec14) after a death in the family forced him to bow out of an appearance at the Country Music Television Artists of the Year concert. Bryan's brother-in-law, Ben Lee Cheshire, passed away in Georgia on Saturday (29Nov14) at the age of 46, seven years after his wife Kelly - the star's only sister - died unexpectedly, aged 39.
He scrapped all of his live commitments for this week (begs01Dec14) to spend time with his relatives, but he was firmly in his peers' thoughts as they celebrated his career as one of the honourees at the CMT Artists of the Year show.
Lady Antebellum and singer/songwriter Chris Stapleton treated the audience at the Nashville, Tennessee bash to an acoustic cover of Drink A Beer, which honours Bryan's late brother and sister, after band member Charles Kelley dedicated the tune to their absent pal.
He said, "Tonight, if you're watching back home, Luke, this one's for you and your family."
The touching moment was not lost on Bryan, who subsequently tweeted, "That was amazing. Truly. Thank you Charles, Dave, Hillary and Chris! Beautiful!!! Thank you fans for your love."
Other performance highlights at the CMT prizegiving came from another honouree Jason Aldean, who teamed up with rocker Chris Cornell to open the show, while Eric Church, Ashley Monroe and T Bone Burnett joined forces for a rendition of Artist of a Lifetime recipient Merle Haggard's hit Workin' Man Blues.
Actor Billy Bob Thornton was also on hand to pay tribute to Haggard, comparing him to writers like John Steinbeck and Tennessee Williams, saying, "He's truly a storyteller. And that's something that has been lost."
Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban were also among the musicians saluted at the CMT gathering.

Paul Simon paid tribute to his late friend Phil Everly by performing at an intimate benefit concert in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday (29Oct14). The veteran singer/songwriter was recruited by Everly's wife Patti, who organised the private event and had no one else in mind but Simon for the headlining role.
She tells Rolling Stone, "Phil loved hanging out with Paul and telling their stories when they toured together. And Paul loved Phil so much. So how can you not call Paul for your first choice? He starts playing and the world stops."
Simon, who helped reunite Everly with his brother Don for Simon & Garfunkel's Old Friends Tour in 2003, was introduced to the stage by singer Brenda Lee.
He kicked off the eight-song set with the classic The Sound of Silence, and soon followed with other favourites, including Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, The Boxer, Mrs. Robinson and a cover of the Beatles' Here Comes the Sun.
Simon even brought up Lee to join him for All I Have to Do Is Dream, and his rendition of When Will I Be Loved, which was written by Everly, brought tears to Patti's eyes.
The event was held at the Belle Meade house, which is featured on U.S. country music drama Nashville, and the show's stars, including Charles Esten, Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, Chris Carmack and Charley Rose were present for the event.
Proceeds from the concert went to the COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) Foundation, an organisation which raises funds and awareness for the same disease Everly died from earlier this year (Jan14).

Taylor Swift, Lindsay Lohan, Zoe Saldana and Tyson Beckford have led tributes to designer Oscar De La Renta, who died on Monday (20Oct14).
Shortly after news of his death hit the headlines, celebrities lit up social media with fond farewells and kind words. Swift, who heard the news as she began her day in Australia, took to Instagram and wrote, "My all-time favorite designer has passed away. Oscar, it was an honor to wear your creations and to know you. In loving memory."
Lohan posted a quote from the designer, adding, "'Never in the history of the world have women been more in control of their destiny - #RIPOscar. A remarkable one of a kind legend." Zoe Saldana writes, "Iconic legendary genius, gone but definitely not forgotten #OscarDeLaRenta. My heart goes out to the De La Renta family." Actor/model Beckford adds, "RIP Oscar, I will truly miss you. 22 yrs (years) of your kind words", and Nicky Hilton tweeted, "What a sad day for the fashion industry. An icon is gone. RIP Oscar de la Renta."
Twitter tributes also poured in from Jamie Lee Curtis, Alyssa Milano, Garcelle Beauvais, Isabelle Fuhrman, Padma Lakshmi and fashion experts Nina Garcia, Zac Posen and Christian Siriano, while actress Rita Wilson added, "A great has left us. #OscarDeLaRenta Thank you for adding such beauty to the world, along with elegance, class and grace." Gloria Estefan, a big fan of de la Renta's work, recalled he was "a big part of 3 of my life's biggest moments", adding, "Made Grammy dress 4 performance and win for 'Mi Tierra', dress I wore to perform for the Pope and my daughter-in-law's wedding dress."

Members of veteran funk band War are taking label executives at Far Out Music to court amid allegations they are owed more than $300,000 (£187,500) in royalties. The Low Rider hitmakers claim record bosses have "substantially underreported and underpaid" original bandmates Harold Brown, Lee Oskar Levitin and Howard Scott, as well as representatives for Morris 'BB' Dickerson and Charles Miller, due to an issue with the way their royalties are calculated - and now they are demanding compensation.
They filed papers in Los Angeles Superior Court, four years after settling another dispute over written agreements from the 1970s for their composing and recording services, according to Entlawdigest.com.

This Post Contains Spoilers for the Upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy!
With all of the attention surrounding the Avengers franchise in the last few days, Marvel wanted to make sure the world didn’t forget that they have another team of superheroes hitting screens in just a couple of weeks. And the way they chose to go about that was by revealing a cast list that let some of the most exciting, buzzed about and truly bizarre cameos in Guardians of the Galaxy slip to the entire Internet. According to Stitch Kingdom, cult favorite Nathan Fillion will be appearing as “Monstrous Inmate,” – which is a bit of a letdown, considering the amount of press his cameos has generated over the past few months – Stan Lee will play “Xandarian Ladies Man,” and Howard the Duck will be making an appearance as himself.
Yes, you read that last sentence correctly: Howard the Duck will be in Guardians of the Galaxy. It hasn’t be revealed why, when, or how he will make a cameo, but he will be there, and Stitch Kingdom has the casting scroll to prove it. But as absurd as it seems to have Howard the Duck, who despite his divisive feature film is a Marvel fan favorite, appear in Guardians of the Galaxy, it doesn’t even come close to topping the list of the most bizarre character crossovers and cameos. Seriously, there are things out there that are stranger and more confusing than the prospect of Howard hanging out with Rocket and Groot. Don’t believe us? Take a look for yourself:
Universal Pictures
Charles Barkley and Godzilla The union of the five-time NBA All-Star and two-time Hall of Famer and the giant mutant lizard that has been known to both spit fire and shoot lasers from his eyes was originally conceived as a Nike ad, and later expanded into a comic book. Because nothing says “cool sneakers” like a basketball-playing kaiju that can’t actually fit his giant feet into shoes. Also, who was buying that comic book?
Spider-Man and Ren and Stimpy There was once a time when you hadn’t properly made it until your cartoon got its own comic book. Unfortunately, some shows just aren’t meant to be read, and Ren &amp; Stimpy is one of them, so when the comic book (unsurprisingly) failed to sell, they brought in the big guns: Spider Man. In true Ren &amp; Stimpy fashion, Spidey took on Powdered Toast Man, that beloved vigilante superhero/breakfast food spokesman. If you’ve ever wanted to know what it was like to read a 12-year-old's fever dream, this is the comic for you.
Superman and the Quik Bunny Spider-Man isn’t the only superhero to succumb to some very obvious product placement. Superman one teamed up with the Quik Bunny, purveyor of powder that makes your milk brown, in order to fight the Weather Man, a lame villain with fourth-tier powers and a costume that made him look like he was starring in a community theater production of Robin Hood. At least Spider-Man had the dignity of fighting with a fictional breakfast-hero.
Inspector Gadget and Mario and Luigi Remember the Super Mario Bros. Super Show!? No? Well, that’s probably for the best, but it does mean that you missed seeing Inspector Gadget, the world’s more over-equipped and incompetent detective, get his various malfunctioning parts fixed by Mario and Luigi, who are supposed to be plumbers. You probably wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it goes horribly wrong, to no-doubt hilarious consequences. Clearly, the moral of this episode was to play to your strengths, and maybe not to call a plumber to fix a wire problem.
Archie Comics
Archie and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles On some level, this one probably makes some sense. After all, Archie and his friends are teenagers, and so are the Ninja Turtles. Both groups like pizza and video games and, from the looks of the cover, dance parties. But what’s really strange about this crossover is that it happened as the result of the Turtles being spit out by a giant cow head, which apparently allowed them to hop through various dimensions. Mutant ninja turtles or no, there had to be an easier way to get these guys to Riverdale.
Arthur and Mr. Rogers In what is perhaps the most well-meaning, mild-mannered crossover of all time, Mr. Rogers appeared on an episode of Arthur that centered around Arthur being embarrassed that the friendliest man on television was going to be staying at his house. Of course, this conflict is solved with a charming heart-to-heart that taught children that real friends don’t make fun of their friends for what they like. Unless that thing is Transformers. Not even Mr. Rogers can endorse Michael Bay.
Marvel Superheroes and Guiding Light You know who’s really into comic books and superheroes? The kind of people who religiously watch daytime soap operas – we’re assuming that was the pitch that got Guiding Light to team up with Marvel on a crossover episode that saw soccer mom Harley Davidson Cooper gain superpowers after being struck by lightning on Halloween night and transform into Guiding Light. (Seriously.) The saddest part of this is that Marvel clearly didn’t learn anything from their failed experiment at reaching a new audience, since they had the Thor announcement revealed on The View.
Batman and Robin and Scooby Doo When it comes to crime-fighting teams, there are two that stand above everyone else: Batman and Robin and the Mystery Gang. So teaming them up on The New Scooby Doo Movies to uncover a hooded counterfeiter who’s been sending the Penguin and the Joker fake money makes perfect sense, right? Sure, if you live in a world where Mrs. Baker is on the same level of super villainy as two of the most iconic comic book villains of all time. Fun fact: this episode was so poorly received that Batman later made fun of it in an episode of his own.
Cartoon All-Stars to the RescueThe plot of this movie sees cartoon favorites like Winnie the Pooh, Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Muppet Babies, the Looney Toons, and the Smurfs come to life in order to convince Michael to stop smoking pot, drinking, and stealing from his sister’s piggy bank for drug money. Because if anything is going to convince someone to stop doing drugs, it’s a bunch of cartoon characters who suddenly come to life and sing songs about life choices. Clearly, all D.A.R.E. really needed to be effective was Daffy Duck.
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Actor Denzel Washington is reportedly in talks to re-team with his Training Day director Antoine Fuqua on The Magnificent Seven remake. Tom Cruise originally signed on to appear alongside Matt Damon as one of the gang of gunslingers in MGM's version of John Sturges' 1960 film, but dropped out of the project last year (13).
Now movie executives are hoping to reunite Washington and Fuqua for a script rewritten by The Blind Side director John Lee Hancock.
The original movie, penned by True Detective writer Nic Pizzolatto, starred Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Horst Buchholz as seven renegades who are recruited to protect a Mexican village from an invasion of bandits.
The Magnificent Seven was itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa film Seven Samurai and was followed by three sequels - Return of the Magnificent Seven, Guns of the Magnificent Seven and The Magnificent Seven Ride Again.

Actor Adrien Brody is set to play Roman ruler Charles V in Emperor. The movie will be directed by Die Another Day filmmaker Lee Tamahori and will centre on Emperor Charles V's tenure as the leader of the Holy Roman Empire in the 16th century, according to Variety.com.
A statement from Brody reads, "I have long admired Lee's work and a true fan since he blew me away with Once Were Warriors. When Lee approached me to play the role of Charles V - a man with great power, and greater flaws, whose demons took his empire to the brink - I felt compelled to accept the challenge."
The movie will begin filming in August (14).

Warner Bros via Everett Collection
Going back to the earliest days of both movies and television, producers have been enamored with putting sports celebrities on screen. They're some of the most recognizable people in the country and bring along a built-in audience of fans from their athletic exploits.
Of course, there is one issue that's a little hard to get around… most of the athletes that have been tapped to appear in movies can't act. We're taking a look at the most awesomely bad performances by athletes in movies… from ones that are just laughably amateurish to the truly unwatchable; the work by this group would make Lee Strasberg cry.
Shaquille O'Neal, Kazaam
In interviews, O'Neal can be utterly charming and he frequently looks like he's having a good time. Absolutely none of that translates to the big screen, however. The 7-foot-1 basketball player is a genie who emerges from a boombox and tries to help a kid (Francis Capra) who's got father issues. You'd think that a movie with a genie would be at least fun, but it has way too many dark moments and O'Neal's mugging doesn't help any. The movie was so bad that director Paul Michael Glaser hasn't got behind the camera since.
Charles Barkley, Space Jam
It's easy to point out that Michael Jordan is bad in the 1996 mix of animation and live action since he was the star of the show (along with Bugs Bunny, of course), but really, what did we expect? Jordan acted about as well as he ever did in his commercials and the rest of the NBA players, from Larry Bird to Patrick Ewing are equally awful. Barkley, however, as we've now learned from his work as a studio host for TNT has enough personality that he could’ve done better than the stiff performance that he gave.
Dan Marino, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
It's always amazing when athletes can't even play themselves convincingly. In Jim Carrey's breakout hit, Marino — along with a dolphin — is the subject of a kidnapping scheme. Marino's a good looking guy, but that's about the best thing that we can say about his abilities as an actor. When you're outdone by a sea mammal, things are pretty bad. Of course, as much as we don't like his acting, we still like him better than the movie's Mrs. Finkle, the character who famously said, "Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell."
O.J. Simpson, Capricorn One
Back before the Juice had his troubles with the law, he had quite the acting career. Most people remember his turn as Leslie Nielsen's partner in the Naked Gun series, but at one point, Simpson was legitimately trying to act. That's what puts his turn in Capricorn on the list. Playing a duped astronaut, along with James Brolin and Sam Waterston, who is unwittingly part of a fake mission to Mars, Simpson is all caged fury at the outrage of it all. At least the movie has some pretty rad late '70s hairdos going for it.
Wilt Chamberlain, Conan the Destroyer
At least there was logic to Chamberlain's casting in the rushed sequel to Conan the Barbarian… if you're looking for someone even more physically imposing than Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wilt certainly fits the bill. The towering Chamberlain plays a guard named Bombaata who is supposed to help Conan on a quest before killing him. Let's just say that doesn't work out too well for The Stilt. Considering his claims of prodigious sexual conquests, we're sure that Chamberlain had fun shooting the movie… and, really, he doesn’t look any more ridiculous than Grace Jones.
Dennis Rodman, Double Team
How many people can say that they were in a movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme and they were the worst actor on set? Rodman, at the height of his fame for his outrageous behavior, made the Muscles from Brussels look like Robert De Niro in comparison. The plot of the movie runs along the lines of most other JCVD flicks, with Rodman playing an arms dealer. The Worm is tasked with saying such classic lines as, "You look like trouble. I like trouble." There are a lot of explosions and Van Damme does his requisite butt-kicking, even taking on a tiger, but Rodman spends the movie seemingly smirking at the thought that someone's paying him to do… well, whatever it was he was doing.
Mike Tyson, The Hangover
Yes, The Hangover is a very funny movie and, yes, the scenes with Tyson are hysterical. Those two facts do not make Iron Mike a good actor. The former heavyweight champion just plays a slightly less scary version of himself and you get the impression that the mixture of awe and fear on Bradley Cooper's face wasn't a stretch with the real Tyson standing in front of him. As comical as it was to watch — due largely to Tyson's public persona — his reaction at the video of Zack Galifianakis peeing in his pool is on the level of a third grade school play. Just, um, maybe don't tell him we said so.
Howie Long, Firestorm
The longtime Los Angeles Raiders defensive lineman did a credible job as one of John Travolta's henchmen in the John Woo actioner Broken Arrow. That's where Long's acting career should've ended. Instead, he signed on to play the lead in a movie about the leader of a team of wild firefighters who has to rescue people trapped in a fire started by an escaped killer played by William Forsythe. The fact that someone actually bought that pitch is irrelevant and it's hard to fault Long for taking the payday, but the preposterousness of the plot is matched only by the football star's terrible line delivery. The best part of the movie is that it's mercifully short, clocking in at just 89 minutes.
Terry Bradshaw, Failure to Launch
Let's forget for a second the stretch of casting Bradshaw and Kathy Bates as Matthew McConaughey's parents. Let's even put aside the fact that the movie's awfulness has more to do with the nonexistent chemistry between McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker than anything the four-time Super Bowl winner did. The question that truly needs to be addressed is who the heck thought the idea of having Bradshaw naked in the movie was a good idea? God love him for being down for it, but the image of the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback's naked rear-end is one of those things that you can't unsee. Bradshaw got his start in acting doing cameos in his buddy Burt Reynolds' films and luckily, he doesn't go too far out of his way to get parts. Why people feel the need to occasionally give him one is a whole other question.
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DreamWorks
For the bulk of every Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, moose and squirrel would engage in high concept escapades that satirized geopolitics, contemporary cinema, and the very fabrics of the human condition. With all of that to work with, there's no excuse for why the pair and their Soviet nemeses haven't gotten a decent movie adaptation. But the ingenious Mr. Peabody and his faithful boy Sherman are another story, intercut between Rocky and Bullwinkle segments to teach kids brief history lessons and toss in a nearly lethal dose of puns. Their stories and relationship were much simpler, which means that bringing their shtick to the big screen would entail a lot more invention — always risky when you're dealing with precious material.
For the most part, Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman handles the regeneration of its heroes aptly, allowing for emotionally substance in their unique father-son relationship and all the difficulties inherent therein. The story is no subtle metaphor for the difficulties surrounding gay adoption, with society decreeing that a dog, no matter how hyper-intelligent, cannot be a suitable father. The central plot has Peabody hosting a party for a disapproving child services agent and the parents of a young girl with whom 7-year-old Sherman had a schoolyard spat, all in order to prove himself a suitable dad. Of course, the WABAC comes into play when the tots take it for a spin, forcing Peabody to rush to their rescue.
Getting down to personals, we also see the left brain-heavy Peabody struggle with being father Sherman deserves. The bulk of the emotional marks are hit as we learn just how much Peabody cares for Sherman, and just how hard it has been to accept that his only family is growing up and changing.
DreamWorks
But more successful than the new is the film's handling of the old — the material that Peabody and Sherman purists will adore. They travel back in time via the WABAC Machine to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, and the Trojan War, and 18th Century France, explaining the cultural backdrop and historical significance of the settings and characters they happen upon, all with that irreverent (but no longer racist) flare that the old cartoons enjoyed. And oh... the puns.
Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman is a f**king treasure trove of some of the most amazingly bad puns in recent cinema. This effort alone will leave you in awe.
The film does unravel in its final act, bringing the science-fiction of time travel a little too close to the forefront and dropping the ball on a good deal of its emotional groundwork. What seemed to be substantial building blocks do not pay off in the way we might, as scholars of animated family cinema, have anticipated, leaving the movie with an unfinished feeling.
But all in all, it's a bright, compassionate, reasonably educational, and occasionally funny if not altogether worthy tribute to an old favorite. And since we don't have our own WABAC machine to return to a time of regularly scheduled Peabody and Sherman cartoons, this will do okay for now.
If nothing else, it's worth your time for the puns.
3/5
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Title

Worked as one of six writers for the NBC-TV adaptation of the musical "Roberta"

Scripted an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

Served in the US Army during World War II

Worked as a staff writer for Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show"

Began writing for Bob Hope in the 1940s

Wrote for "The Des O'Connor Show" on British TV

Summary

This veteran comedy writer worked with comedian Bob Hope for 32 years. Lee's association with Hope began in the mid-1940s and continued through the mid-70s. Lee specialized in comic monologues and worked on Hope's films, TV specials, public appearances, and newspaper columns. Lee also traveled with Hope as he entertained the troops in Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, and Greenland.